President has a narrow escape in chopper incident, is safe

President Pratibha Patil's copter meets an accident at Bhubaneswar airport.

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PTI

Bhubaneswar

December 9, 2009

UPDATED: December 10, 2009 07:53 IST

President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday had a narrow escape when a IAF Mi-17 helicopter in which she was on board was involved in an accident after landing at the airport here, the second scare for her while flying this year.

75-year-old Patil and other passengers that included her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and Orissa Governor M C Bhandare escaped unhurt and were safe, a senior police official said.

The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.

The accident happened when three rotor blades of the helicopter which was bringing Patil and others back from Puri hit an abandoned asbestos shed around 5 PM, the official said.

The weather at the time of the incident was clear, he added.

The three blades got twisted and the roof of the shed was ripped off after being struck, Sanjay Jain, Director of the Biju Patnaik Airport said. The shed which was once a hangar was being used as a store-room, he added.

A major collision had been averted at Mumbai airport on February 9 after an IAF chopperr, part of Patil's helicopter convoy, was given clearance to land on a runway on which an Air India flight had been cleared for take-off.

President's Secretary Christie Fernandes spoke to Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and said there should be a thorough probe. A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson described the incident as minor.

"The incident took place when the helicopter was taxiing from runway to tarmac. On the way the rotor blades of the helicopter hit a wall of an abandoned structure. The President is safe and so are all other passengers", she said in New Delhi.

Air Marshal(Retd) Denzil Keelor, an aviation expert, said the incident involving Patil's chopper was "serious.

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